The overall goal of this supplemental application is to further Howard University's (HU) development of a new group of junior biomedical scientists. HU received a renewal of its SCORE Program starting August 1, 2002, which contains only six (6) subprojects. These six projects represent the program's emphasis on interdisciplinary research focusing on genomic aspects of prostate cancer and the neurosciences. Additional funding of the SCORE Program will allow HU to build-up a nuclear core of faculty in these focus areas. This application contains both regular (12) and pilot (1) projects. Eight of the submitted projects are revised versions of prior submission in the renewal; the other five are new submissions, with one prepared as a pilot. The disciplines represented include biology, biochemistry, chemistry, civil engineering, microbiology, physiology, pharmacology and pediatrics. The goals of the Howard University SCORE program's parent grant are threefold: (1) to provide critical institutional support for the continued development and establishment of interdisciplinary biomedical cadres in the targeted areas of Human Genome Research and Neuroscience, (2) to improve the scientific productivity of SCORE faculty and (3) to improve programmatic data collection, analysis and assessment of SCORE participants and other associated University components. The parent grant's evaluation plan is designed to assess issues related to the quality and effectiveness of program activities. The projects funded in this application will be assimilated into this ongoing evaluation so as to maintain program effectiveness. The impact of these additional projects will be an increase in HU research productivity, and thereby an enhancement of the training base upon which a competitive RISE program for student training can be obtained. [unreadable] [unreadable]